NHL hand-pass roundup: Analyzing the recent controversial calls

Hand passes have been the talk of the NHL of late, both with calls and non-calls.

With calls going both ways, reactions have been all over the place. From coaches irate over the rulings to some players with some understanding, there clearly is a misunderstanding that is causing mass confusion.

According to Rule 79.1 of the NHL rule book, “A player shall be permitted to stop or ‘bat’ a puck in the air with his open hand, or push it along the ice with his hand, and the play shall not be stopped unless, in the opinion of the on-ice officials, he has directed the puck to a teammate, or has allowed his team to gain an advantage, and subsequently possession and control of the puck is obtained by a player of the offending team, either directly or deflected off any player or official.”

With that, let’s break down the handful of recent calls.

Chicago Blackhawks‘ Ryan Donato no goal (Dec. 10)

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On this goal, we can see that Blackhawks forward Colten Dach touched the puck with his glove behind the net, and although he attempted to hit the puck with his stick, Ilya Mikheyev made first contact before dishing the puck to Donato.

The NHL Situation Room ultimately determined that Dach “directed the puck to Mikheyev with a hand pass,” thus the no-goal call.

Buffalo Sabres‘ Tage Thompson no goal (Dec. 9)

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Although Dach clearly played the puck with his hand, Thompson’s goal was a result of a wacky rebound that deflected off the glove of the Sabres’ Alex Tuch.

Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner pushed the rebound toward Tuch, who was in a net-front battle and turned his body to seemingly make a play with his stick.

While turning, the puck deflected off Tuch’s hand directly to Thompson, who was able to finish the play. Yet again, the league ruled that Tuch “directed the puck.”

Buffalo head coach Lindy Ruff was not a fan of the no-goal call, and voiced his displeasure with the uncertainty around the rule in general.

“I thought the glove pass, I don’t know where that came from either,” he told the media post-game. “I don’t think anybody in the league knows anymore where it comes from.”

However, Tuch was well aware of the potential call on the ice being incorrect. “I was telling the guys to line up at centre ice as quickly as possible. I knew it went off my glove,” he said. The 29-year-old added he “didn’t think it was a goal,” according to Rachel Lenzl of The Buffalo News.

Florida Panthers’ Carter Verhaeghe goal (Dec. 6)

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Now, here’s a play where the call on the ice of a good goal was upheld following a review. Panthers forward Brad Marchand appeared to attempt to glove the puck down from mid-air so he could gain possession — which is allowed. However, he skated by the puck and failed to get his stick on hit before fellow Panther Sam Bennett gained control.

However, the Situation Room ruled that the puck simply “deflected off Marchand’s glove prior to Verhaeghe’s goal, and, therefore, it was not deemed to be a hand pass.”

Columbus Blue Jackets head coach Dean Evason was pretty irate following the team’s loss, stating multiple times that the game was a “complete joke.”

Tampa Bay Lightning’s Nikita Kucherov no goal (Dec. 4)

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For the play that started the recent discussion around the hand-pass calls, here’s an instance where a player may have been protecting himself from any potential injury.

Lightning forward Brandon Hagel stood along the boards to keep the play in the offensive zone, when the puck ricocheted off the glass right toward him. The puck hit his hand and was corralled by teammate Jake Guentzel. Thirteen seconds later, Kucherov would score what would have been the game-tying goal with 55 seconds remaining.

Regardless of intention, Hagel was deemed to have “directed the puck” to Guentzel.

Tampa coach Jon Cooper believed Hagel raised his hand in an effort to protect himself, and was left questioning the spirit of the rule.

“Did he mean to do it, or was it deflected? Was there an advantage gained or not? And you could really debate whether an advantage was gained,” he told reporters after the game.

“Did Brandon Hagel deflect that puck, knowing exactly where it was going? No. Would you sit here today and say Brandon Hagel was maybe protecting his face from a puck hitting it, or protecting some part of his body?

“It’s laughable that got overturned, but in the end, it did,” he continued. “But I think in the spirit of the rule, come on, that’s a goal all day. Things happen on the ice. The game is fast, refs got most of it right. None of them thought it was a hand pass. There’s four of them, so it’s the evils of video replay.”

With the Kucherov’s and Verhaeghe’s no-goal and goal calls causing a stir, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman was asked Tuesday at the Board of Governors meeting about amending Rule 79.

“1,312 games, how many thousands of calls and non-calls? Two situations, as you call them, does not a situation make,” he replied, according to Sportsnet’s Eric Engels. “We’ll look at it long-term and, if necessary, we’ll review it with the general managers in March.”

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